As the NCIS franchise prepares to return on the 2026 TV schedule this fall, fans are going to be seeing some big changes. Perhaps the biggest and most exciting change is that Mark Harmon will be back as Gibbs for the upcoming third season of NCIS: Origins. He’s not the only NCIS alum making a comeback, as I’m pumped that another familiar face is joining forces with the franchise again but in a different capacity.
NCIS: Los Angeles star Eric Christian Olsen (who played Marty Deeks) will be joining Origins as an executive producer, according to Deadline. The actor will serve as EP under his Cloud Nine Productions banner, alongside showrunner David J. North, Harmon and his son Sean, and Michele Greco. Of course, Olsen is no stranger to executive producing, as one of his few EP credits includes fellow CBS drama Matlock, which he’s been attached to since the first season.
Even though NCIS: LA ended three years ago, that hasn’t stopped the cast from returning to the franchise in some way, shape or form. Olsen’s on-screen wife and real-life sister-in-law, Daniela Ruah, directed an episode of NCIS and NCIS: Hawai’i and reprised her role as Kensi Blye in the franchise’s 1,000th episode. LL Cool J, meanwhile, has had a more prominent role since LA, recurring on Hawai’i and appearing in multiple episodes of NCIS. He’s also set to permanently return as Sam Hanna in the upcoming spinoff, NCIS: New York, this fall.
It makes me so happy to see Olsen following in his former co-stars’ footsteps by returning to NCIS. Of course, since he’s going to be an EP on Origins, it feels like fans probably shouldn't expect Olsen to reprise Deeks. Though I would still love to see Olsen cameo as Deeks on the mothership show at some point. That aside, Olsen's work on the prequel show should help ensure additional creative continuity behind the scenes.
As far as we know, it doesn’t seem like Origins will interfere with Olsen’s work on Matlock. On top of that the former show has been confirmed to receive a shortened season and will run for just 10 episodes this fall. Also, Matlock has also been pushed to midseason 2027 due to creator Jennie Snyder Urman opting for a delayed start to give writers more time to flesh out a new story. With that, the Kathy Bates-led show's third season will only have 13 episodes.
But, all in all, it appears Eric Christian Olsen could be quite busy with producing work for the foreseeable future. Of course, here's also hoping that his NCIS producing gig is a small step towards him playing Deeks again at some point.
A premiere date for NCIS: Origins Season 3 has not been announced. Still, between Mark Harmon returning as Gibbs for every single episode of the season and Eric Christian Olsen joining as an executive producer, there's a lot to look forward to. That doesn’t even count the cliffhangers at the end of the Season 2 finale. So catch up on the show by streaming the prequel show by streaming the first two seasons with a Paramount+ subscription.
